350 Keep going (1/2)

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'Of course it would be him. How could I forget? I'm so stupid.'

Luna thought to herself as tears fell from her eyes. She traced the message carved by her beloved using her delicate fingers, feeling the rough ridges and the intent behind the message.

He was in a hurry when he left this message, but each stroke was filled with longing and love.

Luna had no idea why he didn't show himself. Why would he leave in a hurry? How did he know that they were coming? Why can't he just rest and be with them - with her, even just for a brief moment?

She knew that he's doing this for her parents, and that made her feel even more guilty since she's powerless to help. But she also felt like this was unfair. Raven didn't even allow her to see him. It was as if he was avoiding her.

Luna didn't understand, but she believed that he has his own reasons for not doing so. Even still…

'Unfair…' She could only repeat this word on her head, praying that at least he would show up and catch up with her, even just for a day.

It has been years since he left, and if she's being completely honest, he's gone longer than the times they were officially together. She missed everything about him, she wanted to be with him but can't and can only pray for his safety.

Sometimes, she would found herself wondering if he'll ever come back.

But at least he left a message - a prove that he's still alive and well.

This isn't enough to mend the empty feeling on her heart, but it's enough to keep her moving forward.

”Girl? What's wrong? Why are you crying?” Anne along with Ellen approached the crying Luna.

The two were of course worried but more bothered with how she's been acting ever since getting here. Her mood shifts every now and then, which doesn't happen normally. They've been friends for a long time and known each other very well. Of course they can tell that's something's bothering her but since she didn't want to talk about it, they can't really force her to tell.

She was annoyed earlier, confused the next moment, listless just a few moment ago and now she's crying. How can they not worry about her?

”Wait what's wrong? Eh? Why are you crying Luna?” Paul saw the girls grouped up so he went towards them, to his shock he saw the current state of Luna.

”What's going on?” Mark arrived after sensing the commotion as well.

”We don't know, she just suddenly started crying her heart out.” Ellen replied as she ran her hand on Luna's back, trying to comfort her.

The girls then felt Luna moved. She held their hands and nodded towards them. She spent some time wiping her tears and stopping herself from crying.

”I'm okay.” She said.

”No you're not.” Ellen replied in a deadpan voice, ”You're not fooling anyone here. Spit it out, what's wrong?”

Everyone followed where she was pointing, and when they saw the message, everything became clear to them.

”Oh.” Ellen reacted in a bit of an unsure tone, ”Okay, I get it now.”

”Damn, what an ass.” Paul clicked his tongue in annoyance, but in the end he could only sigh since there's nothing he could do anyway.

”Can't he at least show himself?” Anne groaned as she read the message, feeling a bit sad and disappointed at Raven for doing this. ”He should know that Luna misses him badly right?”

”Honey, it's not like he doesn't want to. It's more like he can't.” Mark replied, ”In fact, he's probably dying to see her and talk to her again, but like I said, he can't.”

”But why though?” Ellen asked, ”Did something happen to him? Why is it that he can't at least spend a bit of time with her? I don't understand.”

Paul held her hand and said: ”He's fine, Babe. From what we have seen here, he's gotten stronger. So much to the point that he eradicated a whole camp of the Black Curtain Guild by himself. If he could hold himself out against this many people, then he's safety is the last thing that we should worry about.”

He unknowingly tightened his grip on Ellen's hand and continued: ”He didn't show up, not because he didn't want to. He didn't show up since if did now, he would not be able to continue his journey by himself anymore.”